Patton Boggs loses another partner--its New Jersey MP

The managing partner of Patton Boggs’ shrinking New Jersey office has left the firm.

A staffer who answered the phone told the New Jersey Law Journal that environmental litigator John McGahren left the firm and there is no forwarding information available. He helped lead a 25-lawyer exodus to Patton Boggs from Latham & Watkins in 2006 and became managing partner of the Newark office.

An announcement about McGahren’s new employment is expected to be made after Labor Day, a source tells the New Jersey Law Journal.

The Newark office now has just 48 lawyers, down from 80 in the spring, the story says. The office was hard hit when litigation over health problems suffered by Sept. 11 responders, a major matter for the firm, ended in 2011 with a $625 million settlement.

Patton Boggs is cutting less productive partners, reworking compensation plans and refocusing on core practices, according to a prior profile by the Wall Street Journal. More than 20 partners left the firm this summer following March layoffs of 30 lawyers and 35 staffers.